Painting on Aluminium: Technical and Plastic Stakes of an Unusual Support

When I tell a visitor that some of my works are not on canvas — that the surface they are looking at is aluminium — the reaction is almost always the same: a slight surprise, followed by renewed curiosity. Aluminium as a painting support remains rare in the contemporary art landscape, and that is precisely why it interests me. Its rarity is not a search for singularity for its own sake — it is the logical consequence of physical properties that respond exactly to what I seek in my practice.

The first fundamental property of aluminium is its non-porosity. Unlike canvas or wood panel, aluminium does not absorb paint. This resistance to absorption forces cellulosic paint to remain on the surface, to behave differently. It forms tighter, more light-sensitive films. The result, when one looks at an aluminium work from different angles, is a chromatic variability that wood or canvas do not allow — the surface literally changes colour according to the angle of incident light. This is not an artificially sought effect: it is an intrinsic property of the material, which I seek to reveal rather than control.

The second property is weight and flatness. Aluminium is light for its rigidity, and it does not work — it does not deform under the effect of humidity or heat as wood can. For large formats (150 x 200 cm and beyond), this dimensional stability is crucial. A large stretched canvas may undulate slightly, creating micro-surface movements that disturb certain pictorial effects. Aluminium offers absolute flatness, a zero surface from which each paint layer asserts itself with maximum clarity.

Preparing an aluminium plate to receive cellulosic paint requires specific know-how. The surface must first be carefully degreased — any trace of grease would prevent the primer from adhering. Then a special metal primer is applied to create a bond between the metal and the paint layers. This step is critical: poor preparation results in delamination of the upper layers after months or years. With experience, I have developed a protocol that guarantees lasting adhesion, even for works exposed to significant climatic variations during expeditions or travel between exhibitions.

The choice between aluminium and wood panel for a given work is not arbitrary. Certain subjects — the 'Light Mirror' and 'Sacred Light' series — seem to me naturally linked to aluminium. Their relationship to light, metallic surface and mineral coolness finds a just echo in this material. Other series, more organic in texture and colour, flourish better on wood panel, which introduces an underlying warmth. The material of the support is not neutral — it participates in the meaning of the work, even when it does not show itself directly.

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